Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Cream stouts being one of my favorite styles, I saw this one at a local shop back home and decided to give it a shot. Probably the worst beer that I have had. I have talked with a few other Minnesotan beer drinkers, and how they Brau Brother's could put out a beer like this. Some said that their bottled stuff is really hit or miss, and generally the latter if it has sat on the shelves terribly long.The taste was watery and maybe of sour milk, and the smell was similar. The only beer I've had that I ended up pouring down the drain because I couldn't finish it. (567 characters)

Nice looking black pour with a tan head that sticks around pretty well.Aroma is very faint but I can detect some roasted malts.Taste is decent, touches of chocolate and roasted barley come through, touches of herbal hops are there as well.Mouthfeel is where this looses it for me, as a stout goes this is thin, carbonated to about the right level, but there isn't the wonderful creamy chewey texture I like in a stout. I could have a couple of these, I just don't buy it over other selections out there. (506 characters)

Looks nice, pours black with cola coloured highlights around the edges. Finely and fairly vigorously carbonated, about 2/3 of the beer (12oz serving) made its way into my 16oz pint glass, needless to say is was topped by a mountain of tight, pale tan head. Excellent retention, and sticky gobs of lace are being left behind as the huge head gradually subsides.

Hate to say it but there must be some kind of infection going on in here, and it seems to be relatively common based on peaking at the other reviews. Lactose sweetness is absent, and is replaced by lactic acid sourness. Milk chocolate, creamy and nutty malts, a metallic twang playing of the lactic acid, as well as a leafy and earthy quality also present.

This is one funked up cream stout. Creamy milk chocolate meets sour spoiling fruit. Call me a crazy mofo, and im certain this is not what the brewer intended, but im digging this. Mild hint of char appears after the creamy, nutty chocolate before being swept away in a wave of sour fruit funk. Gonna quit trying to review this by style and just go based on its funkeduposity, after all if this was labelled a raspberry belgian stout or something like that this is more or less what i would expect! After the tart blast of something that reminds me of raspberry crier notes of espresso emerge and give way to the decaying, leafy hops.

Fairly light in body, perhaps the unwanted microorganism fermented what was supposed to be left behind to make up the full body attributed to this beer by the label. Also feels somewhat spritzy. Creamy yet one tart mofo, with nice balance between chocolately malts, a touch of char, and a light dab of earthy, leafy hops.

Was worried after only smelling that this would be a drain pour. No such worries anymore, despite being horribly infected and not representative of the lablelled style this is an interesting and tasty brew. Also easier to drink than the intentional fruit beer i drank last night. Hopefully this brew was just sitting on the shelves for too long, or six months in the cellar was too much for it and that the problems are due to oxidation and not infection. I may never know the answer. Would i try this again? Guess i may be a sick mofo cuz my answer would be yes, as long as my digestive tract suffers no ill effects. Have another bottle, if its drastically different will rereview. Thanks to chonyr for this most interesting brew. (2,409 characters)

I liked every thing about this beer but the taste. Picked up a 6-pack on my last trip to St. Cloud. As I travel around the country on business I seek out unusual and local beers. I was all set to enjoy another good stout and, by all appearences, this one should have quailified.

Poured a nice, charactoristic stout; near-black, with a very full, creamy head that continued to develop for sometime after the initial pour. Very good head retention and lacing. Smell seemed odd, but what the hey?

Upon sampling the brew the first impression was that of intense sourness. Some malty sweetness and a hint of roasted barley far behind. But I can't get past the sour flavour. Not much hop taste or aroma - but then, this is a sweet stout.

I have to confess that Milk/sweet stout is not as high on my list as other varieties of stout. I don't think this is typical of the style. I wish the Brau Brothers the best, but this is not a beer I will buy again, and that is saying something! (980 characters)

pours out an opaque black colour, some crimson hues as well. there is a huge frothy, tan head which sticks which leaves plentiful lace. dark roasted malt aroma, ripe fruit, some java and toffee notes, a bit of lactic sourness, and a ghostly hint of flowery hops. tastes of sour fruit, a bit of smokiness in the malt, dark chocolate, and some bitter coffee notes. a nice floral hoppiness gets lost in the mix, but is duly noted. the sourness seems a bit overdone, overshadowing the dark roasted notes that are needed to balance this sort of brew. the body seems on the light side, but doesn't seem to distract from the extremely smooth, albeit a touch watery, mouthfeel. drinakbility is nice....wouldn't be a problem to put down a few of these. improves as it warms a bit.

i don't like pairing beer and sweets, but i find myself thinking some strawberry cheescake would be a fine compliment to this brew.

overall a nice stab at the style. tone down the lactic sourness and amp up the malt and bitterness ever so slightly, and this would be a very nice cream stout. (1,065 characters)

this is a very good looking beer. things begin to go south from there. the first problem is that it seems over-carbonated in the bottle. forms a large head, but this dissipates very quickly, with little lacing. not much to the aroma--slightly sour, muted roasted malt notes. the colour promises a beer with good body, but there is nothing to it--watery and characterless. nothing to write home about in the flavour category either--some roasted malt notes when it first hits the palate but gives way to present...nothing. it improves if let it sit for a while and warm up before pouring, but not enough for me to buy another 6 pk of this. (638 characters)

An almost black brew that has a large tan head that unfortunately quickly disappears. It leaves some lacing.

The smell is of roasted malts. A bit of chocolate and espresso. A nice smell but not really exerting itself.

I taste roasted malts and almost bittersweet in character. Chocolate, coffee, and a little smoke on finish. It may be a little thin in mouthfeel but I feel it has good carbonation. A good Sweet Stout. (420 characters)

Pours an inky black to the naked eye, it's actually a deep brown/burnt sienna in color. The two-fingered medium tan head faded a little faster than I'd hoped, but it left plenty of lace it its place as it subsided. The nose is all about the roasted and dark malts, which are ripe with notes of toffee, bitter chocolate, and light espresso, and some dark and bitter French roast coffee. There's also quite a bit of smoke, some milk chocolate and even a sweet-yet nondescript malt undertone. Seems like a winner so far! Sweet, creamy, lightly tangy (though plenty lactic) and *smokey* on the first sip, all accompanied by a brisk, cleansing carbonation. Tanginess becomes more assertive toward the middle of the palate, an although there isn't much bitterness here as per style, what there is also presents itself at the mid-palate, alongside roasty, smokey malts. Tanginess lingers, and it's almost 'yogurt-like'. Also reminds me a lot of cold-press coffee, and I'm wondering what might happen if they were to give this one a 'coffee treatment'. No doubt there's plenty of sweetness to go around, but this never feels too heavy, dull, or one-sided, and the carbonation keeps it interesting as well. Definitely smooth and creamy, and medium (almost leaning toward fuller) in body.

Brau Brothers Cream Stout is a very worthy addition to a long line of the sweet stouts that I've tried and enjoyed, although it might not (at first) suit those folks who are new to the world of stouts and have cut their teeth on nitro. I'm looking forward to pairing this with a couple of my favorite cheeses and also . . . carmelization!

Cola greets the nose at first, and cream, light vanilla, with a touch of anise. Espresso twinges, and light cocoa.

Nice and smooth on the tongue, blast of bitterness, bittersweet espresso tones, than cool and easy, caramel and chocolate. Lighter bodied, for a stout, big time drinkability, ...but at times feels too much like a vanilla cream cola. Not quite enough body or substance, Dr. Pepper meets RC...with Mr. Pibb on the side.

Not something I'd recommend to real stoutophiles, but nota bad beer at all, just could stand to be better, I think. But, still, as I drink it down with affable ease, i like this beer, you bet I do. (699 characters)

Bittersweet chocolate brown with orange-bronze highlights at the margins. This stout isn't quite opaque, but a fairly bright light source is required to figure that out. The malted milk ball colored cap is on the small side and isn't as richly creamy as I'd like.

Soft alarm bells are going off in my head as I assess the aroma. The beer smells roasted malty and chocolate-like and all those other stouty things, but it also smells sour. I hope it's simply the usual lactic sourness of a milk stout and not something more sinister.

Brau Brothers Cream Stout is a letdown. Beer of this style, in my opinion at least, should be either malty sweet or roasted bitter or balanced between those two. A little tartness is fine (and appropriate), but I don't believe the brewers meant for this batch to be this sour. More malt sugars would have helped cover up what may have been a brewing mistake, except this is anything but a big stout and malt sugars are in relatively short supply.

The 'chocolate and coffee notes' claimed on the attractive silk-screened bottle are noted, even if the beer isn't 'complex and packed with' them. This could be a pretty decent cream stout if it was fleshed out a little. I was unable to find the ABV, but I'd say it's somewhere in the vicinity of 5.0%.

The mouthfeel is too light no matter the ABV. In fact, it's lighter in the mouth than the average porter. As is often the case, more chocolate or black or roasted malt would have a chance to turn a forgettable stout into a memorable one. For the last time, stouts oughta be stout... or least not skinny.

I'd never heard of Brau Brothers Brewing prior to seeing their beer at Blue Max on a recent trip to Minneapolis. It looks like they've been around for a little more than a year now. My hope is that this bottle of Cream Stout isn't representative, either of this particular beer or of the rest of their lineup. Any new brewery deserves time to work out the kinks. (1,962 characters)

Brau Brothers Cream Stout pours a rapidly collapsing finger
of foam over an opaque black brew. The nose is dark fruit,
and toasty malt. The flavor is mellow dark malts- with mocha
and espresso notes, and a mild grassy hop finish. Mouthfeel
is round but with a bit of crispness too. Not a bad stout at all,
though it's kind of one dimensional. Could be this is a good
choice for somebody who wants to try something a bit heavier
for the first time. (454 characters)

A: Whole lotta carbonation going on with this beer, its going to take two pours so that it doesnt over flow everywhere. Dark cola color which allows the light to slip through easily. Head is full abd made up of medium sized latte colored bubbles. Each sip leaves a ring to measure how many swallows are in this beer.

T: Begins with toasted bread with the slightly charred aspects to it. Quickly a sour nature occurs along the realm of red grapes and flat cola this flavor makes me question whether or not this bottle has been compromised, but you never know. Next comes aluminum, lactose and day old coffee. Finishes sour and unattractive.

M: Medium to full body and soft.

D: Not digging on this beer. I hate when beer take this sour personality to them. Im going to finish this beer but under duress. (905 characters)

This pours a clear dark ruby brownish black color with a scant white head. the smell is pleasingly of coffee and toasted chocolate malt. The taste is of toasted chocolate malt with hints of coffee and cream. It is smooth and full flavored, yet the mouthfeel is surprisingly thin. This is easy to drink and is a nice cream stout. I'm glad it's available in the Twin Cities. (372 characters)

This brew pours an opaque black color. The head is a half inch in height, and recedes quickly into a think sheet of lacing. The aroma is magnificent. Cream, milk chocolate, roasted malt, a hint of coffee. This beer just plane smells like happy. The taste is a mirror image of the aroma, and just as great. The mouthfeel is medium-full bodied with nice carbonation. Overall, this is a classic. I can see myself drinking this as much as, if not more than, I drink Bells Kalamazoo Stout, and Old Rasputin. (504 characters)

Smell: Lots of roasted malt and coffee. I didn't get much lactose smell even after warming it up a bit. It really reminded me a of a porter rather than a milk/cream stout

Taste: Sweater than expected from the smell. Lots of roasty malt. Lots of milk chocolate up front.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, very light carbonation.

Drinkability: As others mention, this is a rather drinkable beer. Nothing overly complicated in the taste but that can help with drinkability. Maybe not a session beer, but pretty good. I made a mixed 6 pack of Brau beers and would probably get a full 6 pack of this beer. (650 characters)

T-Sweeter flavor than the nose leads you to believe...that is good with me as this should have a sweeter flavor...nice milk chocolate notes up front...more of a roasted maltiness to this....very smooth tasting and very enjoyable...

M-On the light side of medium bodied...low carbonation but not as flat as it appeared on the pour...nothing off with this one at all...

D-Now this one I like. Highly drinkable and highly tasty....a sweet stout that I would definitely call on again...lacking in depth and fullness but this is still a very nice brew... (663 characters)

Dark ruby red. Crimson streaking. Thin light brown head. Moderate amounts of lacing. Aroma has got some of that chocolate and coffee thing going on, but also some earthiness to it. Almost like a muddy aroma. Flavors are pretty nice, but fairly light. And I DO realize this isn't supposed to be big and bold like an Impy, but still, I do think it's a little light flavored for the style. Some coffee bean and lightly roasted malts provide a bit of a base. Slight tannin like traits and a little chocolate as well. Medium bodied at best. Lightly carbonated and slightly creamy feel in the mouth. Decent enough stout, but nothing I'd need to go out of my way for (unlike their Scotch ale, which I WOULD go out of my way for). (722 characters)